CBI chief issues controversial statement on Ishrat case; denies later

New Delhi: A controversy has erupted over the reported remarks given by CBI Director Ranjit Sinha that the UPA government would have been happy had Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah been chargesheeted in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

According to an English newspaper, Sinha has said that the UPA government would have been happy had the chargesheet mentioned BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s close aide Amit Shah as one of the accused.

Shah was questioned twice in connection with the fake encounter by the investigating agency but was not named as an accused.

"There were political expectations. The UPA government would have been very happy if we had charged Amit Shah, But we went strictly by evidences and found there was no prosecutable evidence against Shah," Sinha was quoted as saying.

A CBI spokesperson later issued a statement that their officer was quoted out of context and unfairly.

"Director CBI has been quoted unfairly and completely out of context. CBI is an impartial and an apolitical organization," the statement said

The BJP used the reported remarks of the CBI chief to attack the Congress-led UPA government.

"It is a very important statement coming from the Director of CBI. There was no prosecutable evidence even three years ago in Sohrabuddin's case," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.